Improved method of forming carriage-steps



v UITED STATES PATENT WILSON W. KNOWLES, OF'PLATSVILLE, CONNECTICUT.

Vnvipaoviao METHOD oF FoRMiNG CARRIAGE-STEPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent-No. 101.010,. dated June 7,1870.

To all whom it may concern: g

Be it known that I, WILSON W. KNowLEs, ot'Plalitsville, in the county of Hartford, and in the State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Method of and Dies for Forming Carriage-Steps; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and

exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this speciflcatiomin which- Figure 1 is a plan vien7 ofa rough blank used in forming a step. Fig. 2 is, a'like view of the per die for forming the step. Fig. 10 is a like View of the corresponding lower die, and Fig. 11 is a plan view of the face of the latter.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like partsin each of the figures.

As ordinarily constructed carriage-steps are cut from sheet mtal and their open-work center stamped out by means of an ordinary pair of dies, after which they are welded to the shank; but experience has proved that this 'method is open to serious objections on account of the inferior quality ofthe work, and also of the costof its production.

To obviate these objections is the design of myinvention, which consists principallyin producing an open-work carriage-step from a solid bar of iron, without welding, by means of the hereinalter-described method.

It also consists in the employ ment of a series of peculiarlyconstructed dies for forming or shaping said step, bynieans ot' which a bet ter and more accurately-finished article is sei. cured and. time and labor economized in its production, as ishereinafter shown and described.

In the manufacture of carriage steps by my method three pairs of dies are successively used in connection with one or more droppresses, the lower die of eachl pair being stationary within the bed-plate, while the upper one is attached to and carried by a ram or drop and caused to impinge upon the work placed within o r upon the'lower die, and thereby give to said work the desired form.

In order to form the step-blank A, a bar of iron having a suitable size is heated and its end forged under a trip or drop hammer until the required shape and dimensions are roughly obtained. The shank B is now formed by means of the primary set ot' dies C and D, (seen in Figs. 6 audA7,) which dies Vare provided at one side with corresponding peening-faces, C and D', for roughly drawing out said shank, and have sunk within their contiguous horizontal and parallel faces corresponding halfround grooves, c and d, within the latter of which said shank is placed and completed by a few blows from the upper die, leaving the `blank in the form shown in Fig. l. A second set ofdies (shown in Figs. 9 and 10) is now employed, the upper of which, E, has a plane horizontal face, while the lower die, F, is provided with a series of halfround grooves, f, arranged parallelwith each other and connected together at their ends by means of two other grooves,f, placed at a right angle with the former. A larger half-round groove, G, corresponding in size with the shank B, eX- tends from the outer edge of the die into and through one of the transverse grooveshf, and

connects with the center olle ot the groovesf.

In order to furnish roon below the surface of the die F for the increased size or swell of the shank B, the grooveG is made much lower at its outer than at its inner end, and from its size, being' somewhat deeper at its point ot' intersection than the groovcsfand j", the latter and the c enter of said grooves fare made to incline downward from theiroulcr ends to the bottom of said groove Cr, by which construction the bars formed within said deepened grooves have aregularly` increasing depth from their outer ends lo their pointot' union with the shank. Afterjreheating the blank shown in Fig. 1 is pla-ced between the dies E and F, and receives a number ot' blows, which cause it to till said lower die and assume the shape shown in Fig. 2, the metal being forced downward and sidewise, so as to raise and form the bars t and a', leaving them connected by means of a thin diaphragm, and also leaving atin,z, of corresponding thickness projecting horizontally from the edge of the step.

arten.

The blank is again heated, and the diaphragm x and n z removed by means of suitable trimming-dies, after which it is placed beneath the finishing-dies andcompleted, as shown in Fig.

, 3, by means ot' a few blows.

The nishingdies used are substantially the same as ythose above described, E and F, the only point of difference being in the depth of the grooves, those within the latter being made.

somewhat deeper than the finished bars, in order that they may contain a sufficient amount ot' metal to insure a perfect step.

Although I preferably construct steps in the I form shown in Fig. 3, a great varietyof other forms can be given to them. As an illustra- 4tion of a slight change in form, Figs. 4 and 5 show two steps in which the bars a are placed at a right angle to instead of in a line with the shank B, while a circular or an oval shape is given to the exterior of said step. Other changes will readily suggest themselves; but.

as they would only be modifications of my invention, it is not thought necessary to further and tenacity of hammered iron, and being with out weld, no breakage-can occur from a defect in the workmanship. i

In addition to the above, there is a decrease in the cost of the iinished article, which results from the saving in material caused by forcing a portion of'the iron'that would otherwise be wasted sidewise into the bars, and also from the lessened amount of time and labor required in the production ot' the same.

Playing thus fully set forth the nature and merits of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The hereinbefore described method of forming an open -work carriage -step from a solid bar of iron without welding, substantially as and for the purpose shown.

2.l The series ot' dies C and D and E and F for forming a carriage-step, constructed substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my llandlthis 18th day of May, 1870.

- WILSON W. KNOWLESE Witnesses: A

J. D. QUILL, L. M. (JoMBs. 

